Borys Wrzesnewskyj

[Education Benefits Act, May 12th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-383, An Act respecting education benefits for spouses and children of certain deceased federal enforcement officers.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to introduce a private member's bill entitled “an act respecting education benefits for spouses and children of certain deceased federal enforcement officers”. The bill would provide for educational benefits of a financial nature to the surviving spouse and children of federal law enforcement officers who die from injuries received or illnesses contracted in the discharge of their duties. The bill mirrors legislation that currently exists in the province of Ontario.

In light of the 2005 tragic deaths of four RCMP in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, as well as the deaths of other federal law enforcement officials, I would hope that colleagues from all sides of the House will lend their support to this worthy initiative. We owe it to the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving and protecting us and the rest of society.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Criminal Code, May 7th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-381, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (trafficking and transplanting human organs and other body parts).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce my private member's bill.

There is a horrific underground industry in the trafficking of human organs and body parts, victimizing the most vulnerable in developing countries and totalitarian regimes. This harrowing and depraved industry is a consequence of three global trends coinciding during the last decade: first, the development of medical technology, allowing the inexpensive transplantation of virtually any body organ; second, the immense increase in global income disparities between the rich and powerful and the poor and vulnerable; and finally, easy and accessible travel by wealthy westerners to any corner of the globe.

Last year, Canada became associated with this repugnant trade when news broke about the million dollar business of “Dr. Horror” and his Canadian connections, a doctor who illegally harvested the kidneys of some 500 poor labourers in New Delhi, India.

A spotlight was also placed on the illegal harvesting of organs of prisoners of conscience in China's penal system in the 2007 Matas-Kilgour report entitled “Bloody Harvest: Revised Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China”.

By enacting this legislation, Canada will become an international leader in combatting the sinister underground trade in human organs and body parts.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Criminal Code, May 6th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-380, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table my private member's bill, an act to amend the Criminal Code regarding hate propaganda.

The bill seeks to expand the definition of “identifiable group” under hate propaganda provisions of the Criminal Code to include any section of the public distinguished by gender.

Currently the law states that it is prohibited to propagate hate against an individual because of colour, race, religion, ethnic origin or sexual orientation. However, it is not against the law to propagate hate against individuals because of their gender.

By enacting this important improvement to the Criminal Code, Parliament can begin to address the serious issue of promoting hatred and violence against women or men.

This amendment should have been made long ago. It is my sincere hope that my colleagues on all sides of this House will support this long overdue initiative.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Petitions, April 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to present a petition signed by over 40 constituents who remain very concerned that the government may proceed to deport the Tabaj family to Albania. This family fled to Canada after an assassination attempt on the life of Mr. Arjan Tabaj. During this assassination attempt, two other people were machine-gunned to death. Since the perpetrators still remain at large in Albania, the deportation of Mr. Tabaj, his wife, Anilda, and their three children back to that country would place in jeopardy the lives of this family.

As a result, the petitioners urge the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism to allow the Tabaj family to remain in safety here in Canada.

[Visa Requirement, March 31st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud that after three long years of informing, petitioning and cajoling the Conservative government, my Motion No. 247 and its previous version, Motion No. 99, calling on the government to lift visitor visa requirements for Croatia was finally implemented.

Twenty years ago, the Iron Curtain came down, and two days ago Canada's visa curtain around Croatia came down as well. It is immensely gratifying that this Easter will be the first that families and friends from Croatia will be able to visit their loved ones in Canada and all it will take is the purchase of an airline ticket.

It is rare for the contents of an opposition private member's motion to be adopted in its entirety by the government, and I am proud that for the second time the Conservative government has seen fit to implement one of my motions.

I am humbled by the support I received in the thousands of communications and petitions from individuals belonging to Croatian Canadian parishes and organizations from across Canada. Together we were many and we made it happen.

[March 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the facts speak for themselves. It is clear on searching the websites that what I have stated in fact is correct. There have been cuts. They were referenced by staff at the embassy. The hon. member spoke of visitor visas. I have been talking about immigration and the time that it takes for immigration.

Ukrainians began arriving in Canada in the 1890s. They transformed the west into the golden wheat fields of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. They not only helped build this country, but they also built institutions such as schools and churches throughout our great country.

The minister often talks about the integration of new Canadians. This is a community that can seamlessly integrate new immigrants. The government should put resources into the immigration section so that we can get on with the job.

[March 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, on March 4, I asked the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration why the Conservative government had cut staffing levels by one-third in the immigration section at the Kyiv Embassy in Ukraine in 2006. The minister, in typical fashion, did not answer the question. However, the following morning he put out a press release under the title, “MP Misleads Ukrainian Canadians About Immigration From Ukraine”.

Further down, he writes the facts. I will quote the minister's press release. He says:

since mid-2006, there have been no reductions in staffing in the visa section of the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine.

Unfortunately for the minister, a search of the Internet shows that the cuts did in fact occur under the Conservative government's watch in 2006. They were confirmed by Canadian embassy program officer, Inna Tsarkova, who stated in an October 26, 2006 interview in the Kyiv Post:

In the immigration section of the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv, this review and adjustment resulted in the elimination of one immigration officer position and two clerical/support positions -- a registry supervisor and a cashier. This was a one-third reduction of staff in the immigration section.

Under the title, “The Facts”, in his press release, he goes on to state, “Under our Conservative government there has been an increase in emigration from Ukraine”.

Once again, in a search on the Internet, on the minister's very own departmental website under “Statistics and Facts” is a table with the heading, “Permanent Residents From Ukraine By Year”. It starts in 1998 and goes through to 2007. For the Liberal years, from 1998 to 2005, the average was 2,933. In 2006 and 2007, under the Conservatives and after the one-third cut that the minister denied in a press release having taken place, it was 2,025. That is a 44.8% decrease.

How could the minister have claimed that there were no cuts in staff and that there was an increase in immigration when the facts clearly demonstrate that the reverse is true?

Even worse, as one goes through the Citizenship and Immigration website, one finds the following. In Kyiv, what is the waiting time for 80% of cases to be finalized for skilled workers to immigrate to Canada? The worst in the world. The waiting time has gone up from 34 months under the Liberals to 77 months, six and a half years. The processing time for spouses is the worst in Europe. This has gone from 10 months to 14 months under the Conservatives. Let us do another reality check. The waiting time for dependent children went from eight months to thirteen months and parental reunification went from 17 months to 22 months.

The minister's response in the House to my question and the subsequent press release should not only be taken with a great deal of skepticism, it was inaccurate in its wording. What the minister claims as fact was clearly false. The minister should spend less time attacking his parliamentary colleagues and expend his time and resources fixing the situation in the embassy in Kyiv.

[Petitions, March 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have the upsetting responsibility to present a petition signed by over 800 disappointed constituents, and counting, who are disillusioned by the decision of the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism to deport Lioubomir and Olha Nalesnik .

Since fleeing Ukraine in 1994 for security reasons Mr. and Mrs. Nalesnik have contributed positively to Canadian society by working continuously through this period, paying their taxes and volunteering in our local community, exactly the type of new Canadians our country needs.

Consequently the petitioners urge the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to reverse his decision to deport Mr. and Mrs. Nalesnik. They have established roots, built new lives in Canada, and made a positive contribution to society during their 15 years here.

[Committees of the House, March 26th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the opportunity to expand a little on the stop-loss. Quite correctly, people call this a back door draft.

Phil McDowell was graduating from university and was not aware of the jeopardy he put himself into by signing on and volunteering. First, there was the disillusionment of the president claiming that there were weapons of mass destruction and that was the reason for this war. He arrived in Iraq and realized that this was not true. When he did his tour of duty and came back, the military went after him to do another tour of duty. This is a well-educated young man. Unfortunately, many of the recruiters used by the U.S. military—

[Committees of the House, March 26th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary began by referencing rules. We are the elected representatives chosen by the people of Canada to enact legislation and laws, to vote on motions and to reflect the will of Canadians, and that occurred. It is the minority government that has not respected the will of Canadians through their elected representatives. It is fundamentally undemocratic. Even worse, it undermines the very institution of the House of Commons.

I agree that when Parliament expresses its will, we should subscribe to the results of a majority vote. The government has chosen not to do that, which is most unfortunate.

He then said that this was an emotional issue. Sometimes, existing rules come together in a way that, in particular circumstances, requires our discretion—